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Blitz targeting trucks hands out 100 tickets on Ontario highways

Police handed out more than 100 tickets during Operation Safe Trucking, a five-day December enforcement blitz targeting transport trucks on highways across the province. Results were released by the OPP this week. (MIKE HENSEN, The London Free Press)

The campaign was part of the fallout from a series of crashes late last year, including one marked by explosions and fireballs in a pile-up involving fuel trucks north of Toronto. That one prompted critical comments by OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes about big rigs on Ontario highways, which he likened to “missiles.”

OPP West Region Sgt. Dave Rektor revealed the results from the five-day crackdown that saw some officers swap their cruisers for trucks to get a level view of misbehaving commercial drivers.

“It’s all about making our highways safe for all drivers,” Rektor said Thursday.

In total, nearly 400 commercial vehicles were stopped during the blitz, which ran from Dec. 11-15. The most common offence was distracted driving, with 42 tickets doled out. Twenty-four motorists were dinged for not wearing seatbelts, while another 19 received citations for following too closely.

“These are supposed to be the professional drivers,” Rektor said of the offenders.

Commercial vehicles had already landed in the OPP’s crosshairs following a series of deadly summer crashes in Ontario, followed by the Halloween pileup on the Highway 400 near Toronto involving two fully-loaded fuel tankers and multiple cars.

The crash killed three people and left a fiery wreckage scene that one police officer described as “Armageddon.”

The Ministry of Transportation assisted with mechanical, load security or other safety issues during the December blitz. Fifty-two commercial vehicles were inspected, resulting in one being impounded and four others being taken out of service.

Calling the crackdown the most “focused” of its kind, Rektor said the campaign could become an annual initiative.